Chapter Text
Awful. That was the only thing running through Minghao’s mind. All he could think about was how awful he was feeling at that moment. How his arms and chest felt heavy, how his lungs felt almost clogged, threatening to prevent airflow at any point of time; how he thought opening his eyes would be akin to a death sentence, and how his bones felt brittle.
Now that he thought about it, awful was almost an understatement. Minghao, without any better judgment, would’ve assumed it as the end and would do anything to pull the plug and just disappear from this pain. That is, however, not the case, as:
- They had a recording session today.
- After said session, Mingyu said he wanted to visit a restaurant with Wonwoo and Joshua.
- Jeonghan would 100% not let Minghao die until he officially repaid his debt of $27 after their round of Gin Rummy a few days ago (that was definitely rigged beforehand, thanks Chan).
The dark bedroom changed slightly, as dim lighting came in from the hallway, marking the opening of his door, and the figure of a certain leader came in.
“Minghao, we need to get up – like right now actually.” Seungcheol was close to actually walking from the door to physically shake Minghao but continued to stand at the door. “Woozi said vocal line is almost done recording, and so performance team is next for recording.”
Minghao still said nothing during this entire exchange, just groaning quietly, nothing to tip his health issues to Seungcheol. The leader just chuckled at the cute actions of the younger.
“That means you, baby! Come on, get up!”
He was so tempted. He just wanted to confess all the pain that he was feeling at that moment. All the pain that he couldn’t even pinpoint himself. Sorry hyung but everything is hurting and one wrong move feels like it could kill me so if you don’t mind I’ll continue to stay here in bed, thank you.
But he didn’t. He knew what time it was. This was all too important to cancel over something that he is most likely overreacting about. Just pain heightened by his current drowsiness from waking up. Besides, Seokmin and Seungkwan got a bug the other day. They kept complaining that they felt awful but made the effort to go to the company and still get work done. And get work done they did, They even recorded guide vocals for the track they are recording today, which Jihoon praised, even though they were technically sick.
So, looking at it from every angle, there wasn’t really any real excuse as to why Minghao couldn’t get out of bed and go to work and do a fantastic job while he was at it. This “sickness” is nothing more than a temporary feeling in the morning. It’ll be gone by the afternoon. He’s sure of it .
So he pushes himself out of bed, hearing Seungcheol grunt in success, and step out of his bedroom. As the door closes, the darkness covers the room again, and Minghao feels a relief of sorts, taking in the pleasant darkness.
No time to be waiting around . Minghao stepped out of his stupor and continued, heading to the bathroom to freshen up before changing into something appropriate for the occasion (ie. some sweats and a hoodie, along with a cap to cover his bed head. Walking out to their main communal areas, he finds his way to one of the cupboards that contained general medicine for basic needs. He swipes some fever reducers (he wasn’t sure if it was a fever in the first place, but it serves as a good precaution) and then grabs some pain medication, placing some in his bag and taking some with some water.
This will be fine. He can do this.
ーO8Oー
Minghao was now not so sure if he could do it anymore, and he had about five minutes to get it under wraps before recording.
Minghao took the car to the company along with the rest of the Hip-hop unit. Apparently, Soonyoung had attempted to wake him up earlier, with hopes to recruit him in overlooking some new choreo ideas with the rest of the performance unit for one of the slower b-sides on their album. But when he did so, he was met with a silent crowd. Minghao was essentially dead, to Soonyoung’s knowledge, but he allowed it, bringing Jun and Chan to the company without Minghao.
That on its own would feel kinda bad, but Minghao was still showing no progress of change after taking a nap on the way to the HYBE building, almost completely falling on the youngest Hip-hop member on his way out of the car.
“Woah… Minghao, you good?”
“Y-yeah I… uh… just… bit tired”
“Did you not get much sleep last night? You normally aren’t ever this tired, or if you are, you normally try to hide it.”
Right for the heart, Vernon? “No, I g-got enough,” Not a lie. “Just woke up wrong I guess…” Lie.
“Hey, you feeling good, like you seem even more off than I thought, and your voice is kinda scratchy, now that I realize it.” Scratchy? His voice is scratchy? Wait, back to the current issue, and then he’ll try to figure out how to solve this vocal issue.
The conversation is now starting to get the attention of the older Hip-hop members, and he wasn’t ready to face this four against one, so it’s more important than ever to get out of their crosshairs.
“No, I’m good, thank you. I, uh… I forgot Jun texted me that he wanted to meet to talk about something so…” And he began almost speed-walking away. He heard the goodbyes turn into slightly confused mumbles, but at this point, he couldn’t tell. He just needed to get through this day, and then he could just go home and collapse for the next 24 hours, seeing as the following day was a rest day to recover. If only that day was today. Then maybe his stress wouldn’t be going through the roof over this singular situation. He tried to clear his mind before setting course to their studio. Just finish the recording, go to the restaurant, and get home. Simple.
ーO8Oー
When was anything ever so simple?
He walked past Joshua, who had just left the room at the time of his arrival to meet with Vernon and Seungcheol over some scheduling questions about their schedule in a few days. Stepping into the studio, he sat down next to Seungkwan, who was just lazily playing a mobile game with Seokmin. Jihoon, seated right in front of the recording booth, was telling Jeonghan that he was ready to start recording his last line for their vocal unit song. As he sang, Minghao noticed the smoothly connected notes, with his everpresent elegance shining through.
Before he knew it, Jeonghan was stepping out of the booth, and Jihoon turned to Minghao, being the only member from the performance unit currently sitting in the room with him, indicating his turn inside. This was only worsened by the fact that Minghao still wasn’t ready. He had found no solution to his “scratchy” voice, not to mention that said scratchy voice was already a good ten decibels quieter than what would be recommended for perfect recording output.
But he had a job to do. This is all a part of his life. He needs to be able to finish his work, like any other job, and finish it skillfully. He had to as if his livelihood depended on it (which, he realizes it actually did, but the desperation is still applicable). So he walked his way into the room, closing the door and putting the headphones on, looking over the lines and waiting for Jihoon to give the all-clear.
In hindsight, he regrets not telling them first in the morning. At least he would be able to avoid the following events; this exact awkward spotlight that he wouldn’t even wish on his worst enemy.
The track began, and Minghao took a deep breath, only for it to be followed with a husk of a voice. Jihoon quickly stopped the track, but he thought he just didn’t hear it right and summed it up to a misplaced breath followed by a voice crack. Nothing major, Minghao could do it. “Let’s try it again.” Jihoon’s voice played through his headphones. The track started again, at the same section.
And Minghao couldn’t do it again.
Letting the track (and by extension, Minghao’s voice) play out a bit longer than before, Jihoon immediately began to worry. That wasn’t what Minghao’s voice sounds like.
“Hey Minghao, is your voice okay? Sounds a bit off.” He spoke, gauging the situation.
“Uhm… I’m good hyung.”
Now Jihoon could hear the full effect of his coarse throat, almost wincing at the sound. There was no way he’s recording today. Ignoring the quality of the vocals, JIhoon wouldn’t let him do anything else today if he was being honest, being solely focused on getting the boy home.
“No, you’re not. Come out here.” His voice was more commanding than usual, and Minghao simply gulped, attempting to break through the growing fog in his head to prepare for the onslaught facing him.
Opening the door, he was met with more faces than he expected. The rest of the performance unit was seated, alongside Wonwoo, who came early in hopes of recording quickly and then getting to their planned lunch on time. Jihoon, still located on his chair, ushered Minghao to an ottoman situated like a coffee table in the room. Upon sitting down, he looked at the other members and the concern on their faces, only turning once Jihoon began.
“Minghao, something is not ok. Your voice is off, and on top of that, Hoshi said you didn’t come to the performance team meeting this morning, even though you are normally one of the first to wake up for that. And Wonwoo mentioned the conversation you had with Vernon today as well. So please don’t try to skirt around this issue. We all care for you and just want to make sure you are completely healthy. So please, can you tell me what’s going on?”
And Minghao couldn’t tell if it was because Jihoon hit a strong spot or if he was just so far gone from rationality, but he could feel the tears start to fall from his eyes, as he leaned into JIhoon, letting his emotions out. Inciting the rest to get up in the process, they finally felt his forehead.
“Minghao, you’re burning up! You need to go home, like, right now!” Hoshi spoke first.
“But w-we have to rec-record today, and I promised I-I’d come to eat with Jun hyung and Joshua hyung and-and Mingyu…”
“But hyung, you need to rest,” Chan spoke up next. “This isn’t healthy for you, I don’t want you getting badly sick.”
“But-”
Wonwoo finished the argument. “No argument, Minghao, we’re gonna take you home and take care of you until you’re not sick of a fever and just sick of us.”
The argument itself was light, gaining a chuckle or two from the bystanders, but the thought of going home rang in his messy head, leading to a small mumble of agreeance from Minghao. Jun walked up to the frog-like boy.
“Is it okay if I carry you back?”
Silence, and then, “...Yes.”
Jun knelt down to the ottoman, allowing Minghao to raise his arms around his neck before grabbing his legs and lifting up, he heard Hoshi and Chan calling the members in hopes of notifying the members about the situation, and he heard Jihoon slightly sigh as he realized he’d have to do Jun’s vocals as well later since the duo would not be returning today. But everything seemed to sway away, as the energy slowly depleted from his body, allowing him to close his eyes.